September 29, 2010 | 4:06 PM | By

How D.C. used to be

FILED UNDER: Delightful City, History

Kinorama

One of you just sent me the link to an amazing album of photographs taken in the mid to late 1980s. They depict a D.C. that I don’t recognize (I arrived ten years later); they are vivid, engrossing, beautiful. The photographer who took them said this about them in the album’s introduction:

From 1985 to 1988 I wandered the streets of Washington DC photographing the unseen and vanishing moments of the city. These images lay dormant in the archives until I realized that they needed to be brought to life before the persons and spaces are totally lost to entropy and time…

These images depict the hidden parts of Washington DC rarely if ever traversed by tourists. Here are the places and some of the people trapped in their own world while the rich and powerful swirl around in a seemingly separate world a mile away.

The pictures deserve to be seen. If any of you have similar links or ideas for DCentric, please send them my way.

About the author

DCentric was created to examine the ways race and class interact in Washington, D.C., a city with a vibrant mix of cultures and neighborhoods. Your guides to the changing district are reporters Anna John and Elahe Izadi. View all posts by Anna →

  • Mike

    I have been overwhelmed by the response. The images certainly have a resonance with the newer residents of the city. I am grateful these images are being shared.
    Mike Horsley